DUNES
REGULAR MEETING
1.
Call to Order, Roll Call and Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Meyer called the meeting to order at
PRESENT:
Mayor S. Meyer; Councilors, J. Scott, P. Howison,
J. Martin, L. Riechel, and R. Petersdorf.
ALSO PRESENT:
J. Hickey, City Recorder; M. Mecham, City Attorney; T.
Tinker, Planning Secretary; C. Lewis, Recording Secretary; G. Burke, Planning
Commission; LCAN; and approximately 36 citizens from the community.
2.
Approval of Minutes –
There was a change in the
ACTION:
J. Martin made a motion to
approve the minutes of
3.
Bills of the Session:
ACTION:
J. Martin made a motion to approve the bills of the session for
$12,130.47. J. Scott seconded the
motion. There were 4 ayes, 0 nays,
1 vacant, 1 abstained (Petersdorf).
Motion carried.
4.
Receipts of the Session (informational
only)
The receipts totaled $10,052.63.
5.
Announcements and Informational Items
A.
Introduction:
B.
Art Exhibition: Rhododendron
Quilting Society’s quilt display during January and February
C.
Volunteer Fire Fighters and CERT Trainees needed for
D.
Public Hearings for
Woahink Ridge LUBA Remand and Clearwater Cove Subdivision are scheduled for a
Special City Council Meeting on
6.
Reports
A.
Report by City Attorney
-
M. Mecham
Mecham went
over the issues surrounding the Special Meeting of the Dunes City Council on
December 30th concerning the appointment of four members of the
Planning Commission. Mecham said
that the Councilors could talk about the process, but could not comment as to
the qualifications of the candidates. Mecham
discussed the items listed on a handout to the City Council (see Exhibit A).
Howison
asked if the new Council should discuss Attorney Holly Martin’s comments
(letter received). Mecham said H.
Martin did not specify if it were the old or new Council.
Mecham discussed the Public Meetings Law and the quality of the public
notice of the meeting. If that
standard had not been met, the decision could be voided or the decision could be
reinstated with the appropriate notice. According
to the Attorney General’s Manual, the City shall strictly adhere to the
Charter; there are no rules on public meetings law, so that the Council would
have to interpret what the Charter might mean.
Mecham went on to refer to the Charter and what those interpretations
might be. Mecham said that the
Council could not do something that was in contradiction to the City Charter.
Mecham said the Charter could be interpreted to mean that a special
meeting could be called by Councilmembers.
Mecham said there was a question of whether an actual appointment could
be made before that position expired. Meyer
read Bellemore’s resignation from the Planning Commission.
Petersdorf asked if the meeting was legally called.
Mecham discussed the rules of procedure and what constitutes a quorum.
The agenda was available 24 hours before the meeting.
All members were given notice. The
news media was given notice. The
general public was noticed at City Hall and the Post Office, but since the
Siuslaw News only publishes twice per week, newspaper notice was not possible.
Mecham said that all that the City is required to do is to make an
attempt to notify the public, but it was up to the City Council to decide.
Petersdorf said that the City is required to notify the newspaper, not to
print the notice. Mecham said that
was correct, but in the past it was decided by the City that printing the notice
would be done. There was a
discussion about e-mails being used to notify interested individuals.
Mecham said that the City attempted to send the e-mails, but was not
responsible for the individuals receiving that notice by e-mail.
Mecham
said the new Council could not remove the Planning Commissioners because of how
they got there. If the laws were
followed, Dunes City Code restricts a sitting City Council the ability to remove
appointees except by cause. Mecham
said that if you were to take that provision out of the Code, then you could
remove a Commissioner, but under current
1)
Decide if the appointments were valid; or
2) Decide on some of the
facts that is known (i.e. the Public Meeting Law was not followed), void the
decision, then validate the decision of the prior Council; or
3) Decide if there was a
Charter violation in which the decision could be voided and the Council could
start from the beginning or reinstate the decision.
H.
Martin (representing Mr. and Mrs. Wasserburg, Mr. and Mrs. Riesenhuber, and Tom
Cherones) voiced her objection to the Old Council being able to act on issues at
the first meeting of the year. Mecham
said it was up to the descetion of the Mayor to allow H. Martin to speak, since
the discussion was not a public hearing. Mecham
said that since the Council had already conducted business that night, it did
not appear to be inappropriate for the Council to perform actions at that
meeting. Meyer said H. Martin would have an opportunity to address the
Council later that night.
B.
Road Commission – None.
C.
Parks & Recreation/Conservation Committee – None.
D.
Site Review Committee - J. Martin
1)
Beers Abatement – Councilor Martin said a letter to the Beers had been
updated with language from the new Code. Martin
left a list of site review items that she had been involved with during the past
four years.
E.
Police Comm./Fire Dept/Water – WQCC Report – None.
F.
Community Center - P. Howison
Councilor Howison reported on the process of the
Phosphorus Reduction Ordinance and the Erosion Control Plan.
G.
Grants/Franchises/Licenses -
Vacant
H.
Mayor’s Report - S. Meyer
Mayor
Meyer made reference to the ongoing process of the Application to Store Water on
I. Planning Report
- Teri Tinker
Little
Woahink PUD is scheduled for a Public Hearing at the February Planning
Commission Meeting.
Mayor Meyer moved the meeting agenda to Old Business Items A and B.
12.
Unfinished/Old Business
A.
Ordinance 186, an
ordinance adding a PUD suffix to certain property in
Meyer
read Ordinance 186 in its entirety.
ACTION:
J. Scott made a motion to approve Ordinance 186, an ordinance adding a
PUD suffix to certain property in
Discussion:
Howison questioned the need to declare an emergency.
Mecham explained that State Law and the Charter classify an emergency as
something that should not be delayed and could go into effect immediately.
Vote:
There were 5 ayes, 0 nays, 1 vacant.
Motion carried.
B.
Little Woahink PUD
hydro-seeding.
ACTION:
P. Howison made a motion to refer the hydo-seeding issue to the January
18th Special City Council Meeting.
B. Petersdorf seconded the motion. There
were 5 ayes, 0 nays, 1 vacant. Motion
carried.
7.
Presentations to Outgoing Councilors
A plaque and gardening book was presented to outgoing Councilor Judy
Martin. A Certificate of
Appreciation and motorcycle book was presented to outgoing Councilor Lee Riechel.
8.
Swearing in and the seating of newly elected Mayor and City Councilors
City
Recorder Joanne Hickey administered the Oath of Office to Mayor Sheldon Meyer.
Mayor Meyer administered the Oath of Office to Councilors Bellemore,
Howison, Koehler, and Navetta.
9.
Recess – 15 minutes
Meeting resumed at
10.
Guest Speakers – None.
11. Citizen Input on Unscheduled Items Maximum time 20 minutes: Speakers will be limited to three minutes. If the number wishing to testify exceeds seven speakers, each speaker’s time may be reduced to fit within 20 minutes.
Marilyn Miller,
Marv Beckman,
April Dumas,
Ralph Farnsworth,
John Stead,
Holly Martin, attorney for Wasserburg, Riesenhuber and Cherones, 3900
SE Lusted Road, Boring OR. Martin
went over a letter entered into the record.
See Exhibit E. Martin
objected to the Planning Commission appointments saying there was not sufficient
notice.
Ian Chun,
Steve Chun,
Dave Gosselin,
Norman Martin,
Cynthia Chandler,
13.
New Business
(New
matters, in absences of a compelling reason, may be set over to a subsequent
meeting.)
A.
Nomination and Election of Council President.
John Scott nominated David Bellemore.
B. Petersdorf seconded the nomination.
Bellemore declined the position.
David Bellemore nominated Peter Howison.
Richard Koehler nominated Susie Navetta.
Navetta declined.
Bob Petersdorf nominated John Scott.
Petersdorf moved to close the nominations.
Ballots with John Scott and Peter Howison name were handed out.
The council marked the ballots, ballots were counted and Meyer announced
that Howison was elected Council President.
B.
Assign Committee/Commission Chair Positions
Meyer assigned Council appointments to
the various committees as follows:
Petersdorf – Roads and Parks and Recreation
Howison – CCI and Community Center
Navetta - Site Review,
Grants and Police Commissioner
Scott – Franchises, Fire Department and Parks and Recreation
Koehler – Water Quality
Bellemore – Conservation Committee
Lewis asked that someone be designated to oversee the website.
Koehler said that a Communications Committee would be formed, which would
encompass not only the website, but newsletters. Koehler
proposed a phone tree for notifying all citizens of upcoming meetings.
ACTION:
P. Howison made a motion to approve the election of the Council
appointments. B. Petersdorf
seconded the motion. There were 6
ayes, 0 nays. Motion carried.
C.
Resolution
ACTION:
B. Petersdorf made a motion to approve Resolution
D.
Resolution
Howison explained the need for the resolution: because of the Woahink
Ridge remand, plus it would be beneficial on occasion to have an expert
limnologist or hydrologist for input. Howison
said it would be the same as hiring a City Attorney, Planner, etc.
Howison said there was a need to pass the resolution so that expert input
could be gathered for the remand hearing. There
was a discussion concerning contracting procedures and the role the Planning
Secretary would have in determining if the expert should be consulted.
Petersdorf commented that staff would be pressured by private individuals
to hire an expert. Howison suggested hiring Dr. Chernaik at $50 per hour to help
with the remand. Scott suggested
that the Planning Commission call for the expert instead of the Planning
Secretary. Burke said the Code
requires a pre-conference, which would notify the applicant if input was needed
for, i.e. an engineering report for soils.
Scott and Petersdorf said they would like to interview Dr. Chernaik
before hiring him. It was
decided to delay Resolution
ACTION:
P. Howison made a motion to hire Dr. Chernaik to comment on the Woahink
Ridge PUD, with services not to exceed $2000.
David Bellemore seconded the motion.
There were 6 ayes, 0 nays. Motion
carried.
ACTION:
P. Howison made a motion to table Resolution
E.
Current Openings on Commissions/Committees:
Site Review (3), Budget (1), Parks and Recreation (2), Conservation (2),
and Water Quality (3). Applications
for Appointment received from:
1)
John Stead – Water Quality Control Committee
2)
Mimi Tizzard – Parks and Recreation Commission
3)
James Rash – Conservation Committee
ACTION:
S. Navetta made a motion to approve the appointment of all three
applicants. P. Howison
seconded the motion. There were 6
ayes, 0 nays. Motion carried.
F.
Holiday office calendar for office closures and paid holidays for 2007
ACTION:
B. Petersdorf made a motion to approve the office calendar as presented.
J. Scott seconded the motion. There
were 6 ayes, 0 nays. Motion
carried.
G.
Authorization of payment to
ACTION:
J. Scott made a motion to approve the payment of $1000 to Siuslaw Valley
Fire and Rescue. S. Navetta
seconded the motion. There were 6
ayes, 0 nays. Motion carried.
H.
Community Service Contribution – Consideration
of a community service donation to the Florence Area Humane Society.
$500 budgeted for 2006/2007 fiscal year.
ACTION:
B. Petersdorf made a motion to approve the donation of $500 to the Humane
Society. D. Bellemore seconded the
motion. There were 6 ayes, 0 nays.
Motion carried.
I.
Select Date for Ethics Training
It was discussed and decided to offer the session to the Planning
Commission as well. Hickey also
suggested using the same day to prioritize and set goals for the Council.
There was a suggestion to give notice to the public that the meeting
would be held; the audience may attend, but not participate.
It was decided to have the ethics session on February 17th at
J.
Planning Commission Appointments
George
Burke said he wanted to set the record straight, since Councilors were
mistakenly labeling his profession as a developer. Burke, Planning Commission, provided pension receipts proving
that he had not been a developer, but a sheetmetal fabricator repairing air
conditioning systems. Burke stated
that his trade was construction and sheetmetal, and at one time he constructed
titanium racing bikes. Burke said
he built a subdivision in 1978, but has not participated in any development
since then. Koehler asked if he
could have worked for someone else that would not show up on the records
provided. Burke said no, and as
proof the records show that he was employed full time and would it not have
allowed time to do any other work. Burke
said he was now retired, but on occasion would check on sheetmetal jobs for
others in that business.
Howison
said the new council should remedy the old council appointments.
Koehler said the appointments conducted in December lacked integrity.
ACTION:
R. Koehler made a motion to void the appointments of the Planning
Commission from the December 30th meeting.
S. Navetta seconded the motion.
Discusssion:
Scott addressed the events that occurred which pushed the appointments
for the Planning Commission from the December City Council Meeting. The December 14, 2006, meeting was cancelled due to adverse
weather, at which meeting the appointments were to have been made.
Scott said that under the City Attorney’s advice, a telephone vote was
conducted appointing the Planning Commissioners.
A few days after the vote, the City Attorney made a suggestion, after
objections to the meeting having arisen, that a physical meeting should be
conducted to once again appoint the Commissioners.
The purpose of the December 30th meeting was to complete the
task of the Council and four candidates were chose based on their
qualifications. Scott said that
during the process, the City Attorney conferred and there was no conspiracy. The four candidates were then sworn in.
Navetta said that in prior appointments to the Commission, the Planning
Commission did not make recommendations and the current process was not fair
from the very beginning. Bellemore
said that aside from the technicality of the law, there was an appearance that
the public was excluded and a majority of citizens viewed that there was
something wrong. Mecham explained
that the council’s authority is restrained – the current council could not
reverse the decision just because they did not like the way the prior council
made the appointments. Mecham
instructed that if the council decided there was not adequate notice under the
public meetings law, then the appointments may be voided, and make another
decision as to whether or not to reinstate the appointments.
Mecham went on to describe the options open to the council restating that
the council could not address the qualifications of the applicants in
determining who to appoint. There
were some further clarifications on which actions might be appropriate.
Tinker remarked that the only reason the appointments were made before
the end of the year was to assure her that she had a commission to help her with
the upcoming subdivision and PUD that were under deadline to be decided.
Tinker said that as far as posting the notice, she followed the City’s
procedure.
ACTION:
S. Navetta made a motion to carry the meeting past
There was a discussion about how and when the Planning Commission
appointments should take place. Richard
Anderson, the only Planning Commissioner, said he would like to have the council
make the appointments that night. Norman
Martin commented that the council could not void a sworn in Planning Commission
or it would open a court case.
ACTION:
S. Navetta withdrew the second on the motion to void the appointments of
the Planning Commission from the December 30th meeting. The motion died for lack of a second.
ACTION:
D. Bellemore made a motion to declare the previous council’s election
on
There was a comment brought up about proceeding with the appointments of
the Planning Commission when there was no public notice and the item was not
listed on the Agenda. Howison said
that everyone that was interested was in attendance at the meeting. There was a question to the City Attorney about the liability
of an individual councilor. Mecham
said that a councilor acting on the advice of a City Attorney is shielded from
individual liability.
ACTION:
D. Bellemore made a motion to void the
Discussion:
Scott asked what responsibility the City has to the sworn applicants.
Mecham reminded the council that they could only take an action about the
process, not commenting on the quality of the candidates.
Vote: There were 5 ayes, 1 nay (J. Scott). Motion carried.
The Council began the selection of the Planning Commission.
Comments were made prior to each motion.
ACTION:
B. Petersdorf made a motion to appoint Darlene Beckman to the Planning
Commission. J. Scott seconded the
motion. There were 2 ayes (Petersdorf,
Scott) and 4 nays. Motion failed.
ACTION:
D. Bellemore made a motion to appoint George Burke to the Planning
Commission. B. Petersdorf seconded
the motion. There were 6 ayes, 0
nays. Motion carried.
ACTION:
D. Bellemore made a motion to appoint Lee Riechel to the Planning
Commission. J. Scott seconded the
motion. There were 4 ayes (Petersdorf,
Bellemore, Scott, Meyer tiebreaker), 3 nays (Koehler, Howison, Navetta).
Motion carried.
ACTION:
B. Petersdorf made a motion to appoint Ron Shearer to the Planning
Commission. J. Scott seconded the
motion. There were 6 ayes, 0 nays.
Motion carried.
ACTION:
R. Koehler made a motion to appoint Bill Tizzard to the Planning
Commission. S. Navetta seconded the
motion. There were 6 ayes, 0 nays.
Motion carried.
There was a discussion regarding staggering the appointments of the
Planning Commission so that there would not be so many openings at one time in
the future. Meyer asked that the
City Attorney check to see if there was a legal reason why the City could not
change terms in mid-stream.
Lee Riechel and George Burke (who were the only appointed Planning
Commissioners present) were sworn in by Mayor Meyer.
It was identified that the Council would need to appoint a councilor to
be on the Measure 37 Committee that was previously led by Judy Martin.
It was decided that David Bellemore would assume the task.
14.
Public Hearing – None.
15.
Unscheduled Items Not Listed on Agenda
16.
Executive Session – None.
17.
Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at
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